blueberry advice

[Magpie]

i was thinking of piling 3 tyres on top of each other and filling with ericaceaous compost and growing a blueberry bush in there. Does any body know if this is a good idea??

[yoanbob]

why not?
works for spuds

[Madasafish]

err no

Blueberries like damp soil... unless you water in the summer..a lot

[running_muttley]

You need 2 blueberry bushes to get a crop.

[Paul Wagland]

err no

Blueberries like damp soil... unless you water in the summer..a lot

But you can grow blueberries perfectly well in pots... and three tyres would hold a good volume of soil, so it shouldn't dry out too quickly.

I think it would work if you can water them every few days in summer.

[bluemoon]

You need 2 blueberry bushes to get a crop.

You can usually get a crop with just one, as they are at least partially self-fertile, but they do reckon that your crop improves if you have two of different varieties.

[Eternal Sunshine]

Thanks for all the advice guys. If Magpie wasn't going to put it in the tyres it'd have to go in a pot, so as Paul says, the tyres won't dry out as quick. We didn't know that about having more than one plant tho. How close do they have to be?

I'm thinking abot doing carrots & also strawberries in tyres too this year. I found a load dumped at the side of the road, so keep going past with my trailer & picking them up.

[mclarenpitcrew]

We have bought 2 blueberry plants now and both are said to be self germinating, however we were told that there were not many types that did and most needed more than 1 to fruit.
p.s. Ours live in pots in the back garden and crop reasonably well.

[terrier]

As Bluberies are thirsty plants, how about putting a deep tray in the bottom tyre to act as a water reservoir?

[pigletwillie]

Why not just plant them into a big planting hole filled with ericaceous compost and water twice a year with sulphate of iron to keep the acidity up. Obviously if you garden on limestone or chalk, containers are the only way to go.

I have a whole plantation of them grown that way and always get plenty of fruit on good healthy bushes. The 20 odd bushes I have are all under planted with cranberries which enjoy the same acid conditions and we get a good crop off them too.

They dont like it wet at all, only moist, just like most other soft fruit, wet conditions will kill them, as will animal manure. Feed only a fertilizer suitable for azaleas and rhododendrons, nothing else and then only sparingly.

Two different plants will give you a better yield but only by about 15-20%, a single bush will still give you some fruit.

My cranberries

My blueberries

[Magpie]

Thank you, every one, for your great ideas and advice